Demand for Chemists Approaches Ten-Year High

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Jim Bohning, 202/872-6041, [email protected]

DEMAND FOR CHEMISTS APPROACHES TEN-YEAR HIGH
Major Chemical and Drug Companies Recruiting In Force on College Campuses

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 -- Chemists graduating in 1998 should find a favorable job market that will offer the most opportunities since the late 1980s, according to the annual employment outlook published in the Nov. 3 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. "Only four years ago," says C&EN editor Madeleine Jacobs, "the job market was being described as the bleakest in 20 years." But now "there are more recruiters with more job openings coming out sooner to get the jump on their competition," notes Paul A. Bartlett, chemistry department chair at the University of California, Berkeley.

Some of the chemistry employment trends noted in the special report include:

The surge in industrial hiring is led by the pharmaceutical companies, because chemistry is the core discipline in pharmaceutical research and in the race to put new products on the market. "Pharmaceutical hiring over the next few years will be tremendous and almost unprecedented," according to David M. Floyd of Bristol-Meyers Squibb in Princeton, N.J.

The need for Ph.D.s will be high, but job recruitment will occur at all degree levels. "Good master's degree people are so hard to come by," says Jacqueline M. Gilmore of Neurogen Corp.in Branford, Conn.

Between 1994 and 1996, the number of B.S. graduates selecting employment over graduate school increased noticeably. But those most likely to find suitable employment will have had co-op or summer internship experience. Otherwise, many long-term temporary positions could be attractive to B.S. chemists who want to gain work experience before pursuing advanced degrees.

In academia, many faculty positions are open because of retirements and expansions. "The market for the truly best qualified candidates is brisk," declares Joseph J. Ackerman, chemistry department chair at Washington University in St. Louis.

Inexperienced B.S. chemistry graduates average $27,000, while for master's graduates the average was $36,000 and for Ph.D.s $55,000, according to the results of last year's starting salary survey conducted by the American Chemical Society.

A growing number of chemical scientists at all degree levels are pursuing careers at chemistry's interfaces. Their broad use of scientific knowledge finds application in areas such as marketing, policy-making, journalism and law. "This is the best time in the history of this country to pursue a scientific career," says consultant Matthew Weinberg. "The world is getting more technical, and the use of science in business is proliferating extensively."

For a copy of this 28-page special report call the ACS News Service at 202/872-4451. The entire report with graphics will be available no later than Nov. 5 at http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/cenear/cen.html.

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The American Chemical Society, founded in 1876, is the world's largest scientific society, with 152,000 members.

Source: Chemical & Engineering News